Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Can You See Into The Future.......

If you can let me known if all this hype is worth something. Below is article from Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

The head coach got a four-year extension this week, but there are still questions surrounding Rod Barnes' Ole Miss basketball program. After guiding the Rebels to the postseason in each of his first four seasons, Barnes & Co. have fallen on hard times. They completed their third consecutive losing season at 14-17 after being dispatched by Alabama 69-52 on Friday at the Georgia Dome. Barnes' great start in Oxford included an SEC West title, a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 and a Naismith national coach of the year award. How did they go from tournament regulars to a team shut out of the postseason altogether? "He inherited a good group from [former Ole Miss coach] Rob Evans, but I don't think they were able to sustain the same level of talent that was initially in the program," said Bob Gibbons, a nationally known recruiting analyst for All-Star Sports. The good news for Rebels fans? Help is on the way. Ole Miss has signed a class that was ranked as high as No. 4 nationally, by HoopScoop. The top players are 6-foot-5 guard Bobby Clark of North Carolina's Mt. Zion Christian, 6-9 center Marcus Young of Chicago and 6-9 power forward Xavier Webb of Atwood, Tenn. The Rebels will also have 6-9, 290-pound center Dwayne Curtis, who averaged 2.9 points in 10.3 minutes a game at Auburn before transferring after his freshman season. "We are really excited about the kids that we have coming in," Barnes said. In April, Barnes hired one of the nation's top recruiters, Tracy Dildy. The Chicago-area legend was partly responsible for building NCAA tournament teams at his alma mater, Illinois-Chi- cago, as well as Ball State and DePaul, before coaching at Auburn. "Our future is bright," Barnes said. "We'll be bigger, stronger, more athletic and taller. We'll have those things to work with next season. We'll just be young." Dildy, who recruited future NBA players Bonzi Wells (Ball State) and Quentin Richardson (DePaul), also helped sign 6-4 guard Jarvis Walker, a suburban Chicago player. Barnes plans on the Chicago-to-Oxford pipeline becoming a cornerstone of his rebuilding efforts. "[Dildy] definitely brought a different dimension to our recruiting," Barnes said. "He really has taken us to another level because he's been able to go all across the country and find players."
HEAD OF THE CLASS
Ole Miss' recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the SEC and No. 4 in the nation by HoopScoop. The SEC's top five classes (national ranking in parentheses):
1. Mississippi (4)
2. Mississippi State (7)
3. LSU
4. Alabama (10)
5. Georgia (16)